Sun shoots out biggest solar flare in almost 2 decades, but Earth should be out of the way this time

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The sun isn’t done yet. That’s the message from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as the biggest flare in nearly two decades erupted on the sun Tuesday. A NASA spacecraft photographed the bright flash of the X-ray flare, which was classified as a rare and extreme X8.7. It follows a weekend of severe solar storm activity caused by mass ejections of coronal plasma that slammed Earth. NOAA says Earth should be out of the line of fire this time. That’s because this flare occurred on the limb of the sun.